Stalked
by sheisamelody
Summary: Kerry is stalked by a fellow police officer, who can't seem to take no for an answer!
1. Chapter 1

**Stalked**

* * *

Summary: This is a Kerry related fanfic, from the Australian show Rush. Remember the guy who tried to pick Kerry up in episode 9, John Hughes? Well, this is a fanfic about how he becomes obsessed with her and after he is unable to take 'no' for an answer!

Rated: T. Nothing too much in this part besides a bit of swearing.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Oh hang on, one person I made up. I guess I 'own' him. The rest belong to Southern Star, Channel Ten etc.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

-----

Muffled voices. That's all she could hear. It's not that she wasn't interested in the conversation that was taking place; she just had another _issue _on her mind. An issue that over the past couple of days, seemed to form a dark cloud not only over herself, but her work as well. She just hoped like hell that no one had noticed.

"Kerry?"

She could hear her name being said, but still didn't respond - preferring to keep her head down slightly, and her eyes staring off somewhere in the distance.

"_Kerry_?" the voice said again; fingers clicked together to try and get her attention.

She suddenly snapped out of it, "Yeah. That's fine."

Lawson and Josh glanced at each other, before Lawson replied, "Ooh-kay. Well, let's go then," he said to the others before they left.

Kerry looked up and saw Leon Broznic staring at her. She blinked at him slowly, before saying, "What?"

"Do you actually _know_ what just happened?"

"Yeah!" she scoffed, "They're going to ... um ..."

"You have no idea!" Leon exclaimed with a chuckle, "You were sitting there looking as blank as a piece of paper the whole time!"

She tried so hard not to look sheepish, "It's not anything ... bad is it?"

"No," replied Leon, shaking his head at her.

"Oh good," Kerry replied, a little relieved. Leon was right; she really wasn't paying attention at all. She then got up suddenly and ran to the bathroom. Sick wasn't the right word for the way she felt.

Leon raised an eyebrow as he watched her run off, "Very strange indeed," he said to himself, before hearing Lawson's voice come over the radio a few minutes later.

"Leon, is Kerry there?"

"Ah no mate, she's just ... I think she's just gone to the bathroom or something."

"Okay, well when she gets back, can you get her to ring me?"

"Sure thing _darling_."

In the police car, Lawson rolled his eyes; he thought Leon was the biggest smartarse he'd ever met.

"I think that guy is in love with you," Dom said, looking over at him with a grin.

"Just keep your eyes on the road, Dom," he replied with a no-nonsense tone in his voice.

-----

Kerry came out of the bathroom, feeling a little better, and walked back into the operations room where Leon was.

He swivelled around on his chair, "Kerry, Lawson wants you to _ring _him."

She frowned a little, "What for?"

"Dunno."

"Hang on, he wants me to ring him? Like on the phone?" she then said after a while, realising what Leon had told her.

"Yes that's what he said."

"Weird," Kerry responded, but picked up the phone anyway and dialled Lawson's number.

"Kerry?" he answered the phone after only one ring.

"Yeah, what's the matter?"

There was a small pause, "I think you'd better come here ..."

"Where?"

"Your house."

She almost dropped the phone in surprise, "What for?"

"Just come here," he said, almost too seriously for her liking.

"Alright, alright. I'll be there soon," Kerry hung up the phone, "Be back later, Leon!"

"Fine, leave me here, all alone," he said, pretending to be hurt.

She rolled her eyes, calling out to him before she left, "You aren't alone. You have the computer!"

-----

At Kerry's house, Lawson, Dom and Stella were waiting for her to arrive. There were other officers there as well, from a different squad.

Kerry pulled up near her house and got out the car.

Lawson and another officer who she didn't know, walked over to her.

"Hi Inspector Vincent, I'm Senior Sergeant Malcolm Henning," they shook hands.

"Hi ... it's Kerry," she told him, "What's going on?"

"Do you know a detective by the name of John Hughes?"

"I wouldn't say I _knew_ him properly, no," Kerry said with a slight shrug, "I mean, I've met him ... once."

"Well, according to a neighbour, he threw something through your front window about an hour ago," Malcolm informed her, as they walked towards her house, "They got the number plate off his vehicle as he left and called us. That's how we found out about John."

She glanced over at Lawson, who was looking back at her with an expressionless look on his face.

"We need your permission to go inside your house, Kerry."

"Um yeah, sure," she answered, beginning to feel shaken; she and Lawson walked side by side towards the front door, "You can go now if you want," she whispered to him as she unlocked the door.

Lawson shook his head, whispering back, "I'm staying here. I'll let Dom and Stella know that they can go."

Kerry couldn't be bothered arguing with him as she and Malcolm entered the house. She immediately saw the brick on the floor surrounded by glass, and shuddered a little; she had a slight feeling that John had been following her every now and then since a stupid Commissioner's "party" she had to go to, but this time, it really hit home. Literally.

Malcolm stooped down and had a look at the brick - it had some paper wrapped around it with a rubber band.

Kerry frowned, "What does it say?"

"Take a look," he handed her the piece of paper, just as Lawson walked in through the front door.

She unfolded the paper. Her heart skipped a few beats when she read what it said:

"_I love you Kerry. xxx John"_

Lawson glanced over her shoulder and down at the note, "Nutter," he commented on it, "Where is this guy now? Who does he work with?"

"Dog Squad?" Kerry replied, looking over at Malcolm questionably, who nodded.

"Has anyone called them?"

"Yes," Malcolm answered, "According to their Chief Inspector, he hasn't shown up for work over the past few days. There's been no answer on his home phone, and his mobile is always switched off."

"Oh now _that's_ surprising," Lawson said sarcastically.

"We've also called someone to come and replace the broken glass," he said, "Apart from that, there's not much else we can do here. It's in the hands of the brass at the Dog Squad now. And you as well, Kerry."

She didn't want to have anything to do with it. Although she knew she was inevitably involved in John's sick little fantasy. And one word just kept returning to her head.

Why?

-----

After sitting in silence at her house while a man was there repairing the broken window, Lawson finally spoke, "So how long has this been going on?"

Kerry glared at him.

"Well?" he was a bit annoyed that he had to find out about John this way.

She shrugged half-heartedly, "I thought I was just paranoid at first."

"And when was _at first_?"

"Oh shit Lawson, I don't know! About a week ago!"

He sighed, "So when did it become _real _for you?"

"Well," it was Kerry's turn to sigh, "He left a card in my letter box two days ago, with the same words on it as that bloody piece of paper. That's when I started to think that I wasn't just seeing things ..."

"Why didn't you tell me, or anyone else for that matter?"

She shrugged again; sick of all the questions.

"Kerry," he said firmly, "You're a strong woman, or at least you're good at _pretending_ to be strong, but shit, this isn't something you can just shrug off. He sounds pretty bloody serious to me. When did you meet him?"

"At the Commissioner's drinks thing."

"He's the guy who tried to pick you up?" Lawson asked.

"Yeah," Kerry replied softly.

"So why do you think he's doing this?"

She closed her eyes, "I think it's because I said no to him."

"No to what?"

Kerry opened her eyes and merely looked at him; she didn't have to saying anything to give him an answer.

"Oh ..." Lawson realised, hanging his head down a little, "Well, that's a bit extreme isn't it?" he said, looking up again, "If he'd done that to every woman who has said no to him in the past, he would have been in jail by now."

"Maybe he isn't used to rejection."

"Still sounds very extreme to me! But the worst part about all this is, he's a cop. He should know better."

-----

It was hard times like these that Kerry hit the bottle. It didn't matter what it was; wine, beer, vodka, whiskey. Whatever. They were all the same to her when all of the crap in her life got tough.

This time, her poison was red wine. Well, actually the two previous times it had been red wine - thinking about her son James and breaking up with her husband Geoffrey. She found it ironically funny that both of those times, she had been at work. And that both those times, Lawson had been there at some point. This time she was at work as well, but by herself.

Did she have a drinking problem? Was another question Kerry continued to ask herself. What's worse, did Lawson think she had a problem?

She hoped not. The last thing she needed was him to 'worry'.

"Kerry?"

Oh shit, she thought, not wanting to look up to see who was talking to her.

"What the hell are you doing sitting on the floor?"

She looked up slowly. Bugger. Lawson.

"Oh no, not you again."

He couldn't help but chuckle slightly, "Again?"

She shrugged, slapping her hands on her knees out of frustration.

"Now why are you sitting on the floor?"

"What's with all the questions!?"

"What's with all the secrecy?" Lawson retorted.

"Oh Lawson, you're so bloody frustrating," Kerry said, getting herself up off the ground; she didn't even realise where she was sitting.

"And you're not?" he raised his eyebrows at her, before something else caught his eye, "Have you been drinking?"

She looked down.

"You can't just keep drinking every time you have a shit day," Lawson told her, grabbing the small glass of red wine and drinking it.

Kerry glanced at him quickly before looking away again, not wanting to meet his eyes, "I could've spat in that for all you know!"

"Believe me Kerry," he shrugged, "I know that those shit days of yours when you have a drink, will turn into okay days, and then before you know it, you'll be drinking even when you've had a good day."

"Yeah well, today I can't help it," she replied grumpily, crossing her arms over her chest like a child who hasn't got their own way.

Lawson shook his head; she was unbelievable. "Come on, I'm trying to help you here."

"I don't want your help Lawson."

He looked at her for the shortest of seconds, before walking away.

"Not now anyway ..." she then whispered when she knew he couldn't hear her.

-----


	2. Chapter 2

**Stalked**

* * *

A/N: This part again has some swearing. That's about it.  
Also you'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge for police terminology, procedures and the like, despite watching enough police TV shows. Oh and my lack of knowledge of Melbourne. Google maps is awesome!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

-----

Early the next day, Lawson was walking back and forth in the locker room uneasily. Josh and Grace walked in, with smiles on their faces after they'd just finishing giggling about something; that soon changed however, when they saw the glum mood that Lawson was in.

"You right Lawson?" Josh asked him, a frown had formed on his face.

"Yeah," he replied with a small nod, "Hey, you guys haven't seen Kerry yet have you?"

They both shook their heads, "Why?" Josh said.

"Oh Leon got a call from ... " Lawson began to answer, gesturing a little with his hands, "Never mind."

Josh and Grace glanced at each other quickly, before going to their lockers. They both knew that something was up yesterday, but didn't want to pry.

Lawson left the locker room; he began to wish that he hadn't left Kerry by herself at work last night. _Especially _when she had been drinking. He had a horrible feeling that the reason she was late for work was because John had got to her. But he forced himself not to think that way; she was probably stuck in the morning Melbourne traffic. He walked out into the operations room, caught up in his own thoughts, and not bothering to look where he was going. He jumped a little when he almost bumped into Leon's workstation.

"Do you mind?" Leon said to him aggressively. He _hated _it when people messed around with his desk. Who the hell did they think they are? He was continually asking himself when it happened.

"Shit, sorry."

"Yeah, you will -"

"Shit, sorry I'm late," walked in a dishevelled looking Kerry.

Both men stared at her; Lawson breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw her, trying not to make it too noticeable.

"Traffic!" she exclaimed, when she saw the questions in their eyes.

Lawson studied her for a moment. Was she hungover? It was a question that was going to have to wait, there were more important issues, "Come on, we're going."

Kerry frowned, she'd only just got to work, "_Going_? Going where?"

"Chief Inspector Richards from the Dog Squad called. He wants us to come down to their station," Lawson informed her.

"Why?"

"He didn't say."

Kerry sighed heavily, as they headed out to Kerry's car, "Fuuu -"

"Don't even say it," he said, sounding a bit like a father.

She rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking, "I hope they've found John, and stuck him in a nuthouse somewhere."

Lawson glanced at her out the corner of his eye with a wry smile on his face; she certainly said some strange things sometimes.

-----

They arrived at the station ten minutes later and were greeted out the front by Chief Inspector Ben Richards. Kerry recognised him from the Commissioner's drinks party.

"What's going on?" Lawson asked him, as they walked into the building.

Ben explained to them that he had unlocked John's office earlier that morning to see if he could find anything that may help to understand why he hasn't been showing up to work.

"_Unlocked_?"

"Our offices here are locked unless someone is in there."

"Oh."

"So, I was quite stunned by what I saw when I walked into the room," Ben said, unlocking the door to John's office. He gestured Kerry and Lawson inside, whilst remaining outside himself - he'd seen quite enough of what was in there for one day.

Kerry's heart dropped to her stomach, "Holy crap."

Lawson shook his head in disgust at what was around them. Stuck up over the office walls were photos of Kerry; all of them were either of her leaving or entering her house or work, "I guess the one good thing out of this, is that he doesn't have any photos of you actually _inside_ your house."

Kerry was in complete shock. She felt like such a dickhead for not realising earlier that this was happening. How the hell did she not notice someone in a car out the front of her house taking photos of her every day? Sometimes she could be so naive; she would get caught up in her own little world and not bother to be aware of everything that was going on around her.

Lawson took one glance at her and said, "Okay. Let's get out of here," when it looked like she was about to keel over; he turned to Ben, "Thanks for letting us know about this, but all it proves is that he really is a psycho. Do you have any idea where he is?"

The older man shook his head, "No unfortunately. But if he goes anywhere near his own house, _or_ Kerry's house, we'll know about it."

_Bloody great_, she thought; 24 hour surveillance on her own house was all she needed.

"Do you have the number plate of his vehicle?" Lawson asked him as they were about to leave, "We might see him outside our work as well."

"I'll get it for you."

"Ta."

Once they had the information they needed, Kerry and Lawson headed back out to the car. Kerry got in the drivers seat and sat there for a while; her hands shaking a little despite having a firm grip on the steering wheel.

Lawson glanced over at her, "Want me to drive?"

She nodded once.

-----

Back at the station, Leon was getting mixed messages through Interpol about a current hostage situation at a local bar. He frowned; staring at the computer, as four reports came up on the screen, one after the other.

"Ahhh Josh?" he began, "Can you guys head to the Polly Bar in Fitzroy? I've got a number of conflicting reports coming through about a hostage -"

"Where's Lawson?"

"I'm about to get him," Leon replied, "So, can you get to the bar or not?"

"Sure. We just need Lawson, he's our primary negotiator."

Leon rolled his eyes, "Yes I _know_ that," he mocked Josh, making sure he wasn't talking into the radio, "Lawson, can you head over to the Polly Bar in Fitzroy. I have reports that customers and staff there have been taken hostage."

There was a small pause, before he replied with a sigh, "Yeah, copy that. We're ... 10 minutes away."

Kerry sighed as well. Could the day get any worse?

"You wanna go back to the station and hang around there with Leon?"

She looked over at him with a screwed up expression on her face.

"I'll take that as a no."

-----

Josh, Grace and Michael arrived at the Polly Bar to find police officers from a local team already trying to negotiate.

"Why oh why are we here?" Josh asked, pointing to one officer who was standing a little too close to the front door of the pub for his liking.

"Tactical response?" Grace suggested to him.

"Well it looks like _they're_ already tactically responding."

Both she and Michael smirked.

Lawson and Kerry arrived at the pub moments later, wanting to know what was happening.

"No idea really, we were waiting for you," Josh answered, "But it looks like someone is doing your job for you Lawson."

"As long as they do a good job, I don't really care," Lawson replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Ahh ... Lawson ..." Kerry said nervously, when she spotted something quite disturbing to her.

"Yeah?"

She pointed to a car parked a bit further down the street. It had the same number plate as John's; thanks to the information they were given from Chief Inspector Richards.

Lawson felt his whole body tense up when he recognised the numbers and letters, "Oh, that's just great," he then turned to her and said, "You glad you came here now?"

She gave him a look as if to say 'you're a smart arse'.

He sighed as he went over to talk to one of the negotiating officers.

"Did we miss something?" Josh asked Kerry, figuring that she and Lawson were the ones in the 'know'.

"Oh this police officer has been following me around for at least a week I guess. He's a bloody fruitcake," she replied, as she looked down at the ground, almost ashamedly, "That's his car over there."

Josh glanced over his shoulder at the car; things were starting to make sense to him now, but he still didn't want to pry too much.

"So he's the one who is inside ..." Grace began, but stopped herself from saying anything else when everyone else was staring at her.

-----

"Hi I'm Senior Sergeant Lawson Blake from Tactical Response," Lawson told one of the officers, as they shook hands.

"Senior Sergeant Paul Brenson," the officer replied.

"What is going on?" Lawson asked, glancing over at another officer who didn't look like he was having too much luck with negotiating.

Paul explained to Lawson that there was only one main man inside the pub; the hostages were several patrons and staff members. They were unsure of the exact amount, and in a situation like this was never a good start. The man had a gun, which, according to the negotiator, he didn't want to use.

"The man's name isn't John Hughes is it?"

Paul frowned, "He hasn't told us his name. He did however, give us the name of the person he wants to talk to though."

Lawson glared at him; he had a very strong feeling he knew who it was going to be too; he didn't have to be told. He closed his eyes and nodded a couple of times, "Uh huh. Look, I know you guys are in charge here, but do you think I could try talking to him?"

"Sure, if you think you can get more out of him then us."

_I think I might be able to_, Lawson thought, walking over to the front door of the pub, where the other officer was standing, "I'll take it from here, thanks."

_What the hell is he doing?_ Kerry thought as she and the others watched on from a slight distance.

Lawson knocked on the door twice, "John? I'm Senior Sergeant Lawson Blake from Tactical Response."

Inside, John looked up at the door in hope when he heard the words 'tactical response', knowing that Kerry worked there, "Tactical Response? Is Kerry here?" his voice perked up.

"How about you just talk to me for the moment?"

"I wanna talk to Kerry!" he yelled back, "I'll only talk to her."

"Look, that's fine," Lawson replied calmly, "But don't you think you should at least come outside and talk to her? Don't you think that would be better?"

"NO! She has to come _in_ here."

_Stubborn prick_, Lawson thought, "John. You know we can't let her talk to you in there. How about she stands out here, like I'm doing, and talks to you through the door?"

"No," John answered instantaneously, "I'll only talk to her inside. I'll let everyone in here go if I can talk to her."

"Do you have your gun with you?" Lawson asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes I have my gun with me," he replied, realising where Lawson was going with that question, "I'm not going to hurt Kerry if she comes in here. I'm not _that _stupid, I don't _want_ to hurt her. I just want to bloody talk to her. That's all!"

Lawson sighed, and for one of the first times as a negotiator, almost gave up, "Okay John. I'll go and talk to Kerry. No guarantees though," he walked back over to where Kerry, Josh, Grace and Michael were standing.

He didn't have to say anything for Kerry to realise what was going on, she could tell from the look on his face, "He wants to see me, doesn't he?"

"Inside though," Lawson nodded, "He said he'll let all of the hostages go if you talk to him. What do you want to do?"

"What else can I do?" Kerry replied with a shrug, "I have to talk to him."

"You don't _have _to."

She laughed a little at his response, "Yeah right. He'll be in there for the rest of his life. Or he'll just go absolutely bonkers."

"Well ... it's your call in the end," he said, sighing.

"I'll talk to him," she replied, not even thinking twice about it.

"You know we'll be here if anything even _remotely_ starts to go wrong."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Women," Lawson muttered, shaking his head, as Kerry walked towards the pub's entrance.

-----

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Stalked**

* * *

A/N: Again there is some swearing in this part. It also contains the tiniest (and I mean tiniest!) bit of violence.  
Thanks for the kind reviews too! Much appreciated. :)

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Final  
**

-----

As Kerry walked towards the main entrance of the Polly Bar, in what seemed like slow motion, a cool breeze rushed past her; she looked up - dark clouds were forming themselves around the sun, before what light there was in the sky, vanished completely. Everything suddenly felt like she was in a Hollywood movie, but she knew that this wasn't a movie. It was real.

She felt a slight tap on her shoulder just as she was approaching the door, and turned around. It was Lawson and Josh. They were going to be standing close by, with the other officers from the Fitzroy squad, if, in Lawson's words, "anything in the slightest happened."

Kerry took a deep breath in as she knocked on the door a couple of times. Despite agreeing to talk to John, she was starting to feel rather hesitant about doing so.

"Kerry?" came a voice from behind the door, "Is that you?"

All of the muscles in her body tensed up when she heard John's voice for the first time since she had met him, "Yeah it's me."

Inside, John smiled coldly; he almost couldn't believe that he was about to see Kerry _properly_. He knew that it was going to be very different from seeing her for brief moments when he sat in his car, outside her house. He had been waiting for this day for a while, "I'll let everyone out if you come in and talk to me."

"Yes, Lawson told me," she replied, "And yes, I'll come in and talk."

"Okay. I'm letting everyone out the back door," John called out to her, "Then you can come inside."

Kerry turned around quickly; trying to gesture to Lawson to go around the back of the building. When he had know idea what she was trying to say, he ran over to her.

"He's letting all of the hostages out the back door," she whispered to him.

"Oh okay," Lawson replied, he too in a whisper, as John's voice was heard in the background, telling her that she could go in, "Be careful, alright?"

"Always," Kerry answered him, with a smile on her face that made him feel all that more uneasy about the whole situation. He then watched closely, as she opened the door and walked into the pub, shutting it firmly behind her.

-----

Inside the pub, her eyes glanced around cautiously. The air in the building was cold and a little stale; almost like what a morgue at a hospital would be. She wondered if it was because of John's presence; she thought him to be a very cold character.

"Hello Kerry," John appeared from another room, his eyes were fixed firmly on her, "Nice to see you again."

Kerry glared down at the gun in his hand, before looking back into his eyes. They had a cold and dark feeling about them - not friendly that's for sure, "Hi John," she didn't really want to acknowledge him too much. She _hated_ the reason why she was there, _and_ she hated him.

"You don't have to stand so close to the door you know. I won't bite, I promise" he told her; a smile formed on his face. He thought by smiling, it would make her feel more at ease. Unknown to him though, it didn't. It made her feel even worse.

Kerry took a couple of steps closer, stopping in her tracks when it looked like John was _stroking_ his gun, almost lovingly. She raised an eyebrow; _what a bloody weirdo_.

"I'm glad you turned up today Kerry. I was hoping you would. Because I wanted to talk to you," he began as he took a seat next to the front counter of the bar, resting the gun on his knee, "About us."

_Us_?

"Yes, us," John read her mind, "I just want to know why you said no to me Kerry."

Even though she knew exactly what to say to him, no words came out when she opened her mouth.

"WHY did you say no to me?" he snapped abruptly, making her flinch.

Kerry looked down at the ground; she started to feel very vulnerable all of a sudden. It scared her, because vulnerability was never something she admitted to feeling to anyone, including herself, "I'm just not ready for a relationship right now," she then said after gathering all of her thoughts together.

"Oh don't piss me off Kerry!" he replied angrily, "That's not a real reason!"

_Don't piss you off_? Kerry was beginning to feel a little pissed off herself. She tried to remain calm however, reminding herself that he was the one with the gun, "Have you ever been in a long term relationship, John? When one day, it ends, just like that," she clicked her fingers together, "And after it's over, you just want to be by yourself for ... well, however long it takes for you to get over that person."

John glared at her through slit eyes, as if he didn't quite understand what she was saying.

"Well that's me. I just want to be by myself for a while," she continued when he still didn't reply, "I'm sorry," though she wasn't quite sure if she actually meant those last two words.

"And all I want to do is be with you, Kerry," he sulked a little, looking down at the gun sitting on his knee, as he rocked back and forth in the chair gently.

This time Kerry _really_ didn't know what the hell to say to him. John was the kind of person who scared the shit out of her. Even when she had met him, she felt uncomfortable around him, mainly because he seemed to be the kind of person who had to talk to other people when they were about five centimetres away from their faces. And that in itself was weird to her.

John was still rocking back and forth in his chair as he said, "So what can I do now Kerry?" even though it wasn't really a question that he wanted her to answer, "I can't go on without you."

_Oh shit_, Kerry thought. She had a strong feeling that she was going to have to start counselling him. And she was never any good at that; she couldn't even counsel _herself_ during hard times. She always tended to revert to the same old agent, alcohol.

John then did something that made her go numb. He picked the gun up off his knee, held it up to his temple and closed his eyes.

Her eyes widened; his sudden actions were very alarming to her, "John. What are you doing?"

John shook his head violently, "I can't live without you," he then started to sob quietly.

"Of course you can," Kerry replied softly, trying to calm him down; she stepped forward so that she was just that little bit closer to him, "Somewhere out there is the perfect woman for you. And you'll find her one day when you're not even looking."

"_You're_ the perfect woman for me Kerry."

She shook her head a few times, "No. No, I'm not. I'm a _terrible _person. I don't know why you would go through all this for me. I'm certainly not worth ... _any_ of it."

"Whoever has told you that you're terrible is an idiot."

"No one has told me that," Kerry replied, with another shake of her head, "That's what _I_ think."

"Well you shouldn't think like that," John then moved the gun from his temple momentarily, before putting the gun barrel in his mouth; he knew that there was the only one way he could resolve this, and seeing as though he would never be able to be with her, he said, "Goodbye Kerry. I love you."

She was even more alarmed now, this time by his words as well, "Come on John. Don't do -"

BANG!

-----

Outside, Lawson, Josh and the other officers looked up when they heard the single gun shot echo through the air, "_Shit_!" Lawson yelled, as everyone got their own guns out of their holsters and ran towards the front door, "On my count," he said to Josh, who nodded, "Okay, one, two, three," and they broke down the door. The first thing Lawson saw was John lying on his back, blood was splattered everywhere - all over the front bar, the floor, one of the walls; his head was no longer distinguishable from the rest of his body. Then, he saw Kerry - hunched over on the ground, her knees tucked up to her chest, leaning up against a wall.

"You okay Kerry?" Lawson asked her.

She looked up at the sound of his voice; she had know idea what to say to him.

Josh took one look at a lifeless John and said to Lawson, "I think I'm going to go outside," he acknowledged Kerry with a slight nod, before heading back out.

Lawson watched as Josh walked outside, before looking down at Kerry and holding out his hand, "Come on, let's get out of here, okay?"

She took his hand gratefully and he helped her get up.

"I'll take you home."

Kerry shook her head, "No I gotta go back to work first. I have some ... stuff there," there was no way she felt like going home right at that moment.

"Alright," he replied with a semi-understanding nod, "I'll organise for you to see a counsellor when we get back then."

She shot a glare over at him.

"Don't even think about arguing with me. You _have_ to talk to someone about all of this."

"_Fine_."

-----

"What is this, déjà vu?" Lawson said as he entered the operations room, and looked down at Kerry who was sitting on the ground with a bottle of scotch next to her, "Didn't I tell you something yesterday, about _not_ drinking?"

She had been looking down at the glass in her hand, but glanced up at him after a few seconds; her eyes were red from crying, "I think just this _one_ time, I deserve it Lawson."

When he didn't reply, she continued to explain her thoughts, "I mean, two hours ago, I saw a man stick a gun in his mouth and blow his brains out. All because of a stupid person called Kerry Vincent. And what the hell am I supposed to do Lawson? Do a happy dance?"

He sighed. Was he ever going to get through to her? "No, I don't expect you to do a _happy dance_. But there are other things you can do, _besides_ drink."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Exercise?"

She laughed a little, "Something that requires very little energy would be better. And something that involves _sitting_."

"Yoga?"

"Seriously, Lawson," Kerry scoffed at his ridiculous suggestions.

He shrugged, giving up; he then remembered something he was going to ask her earlier, but didn't think the time was appropriate, "Hey, were you hungover when you came into work today?"

She shook her head, "No. Why? Did I look hungover?"

"Yes you did," he replied honestly, "You're usually on time to work, and you looked like something the cat dragged in."

Kerry couldn't help but laugh at the analogy, "I woke up late. Didn't really have time to do anything, except get dressed."

"Fair enough," Lawson answered; after about a minute of silence, he then asked her, "So did you talk the psychologist? Like _really _talk?"

She shrugged half-heartedly, "I didn't really know what to say to him."

-----

Lawson reluctantly left Kerry by herself a few minutes later. She had managed to convince him that she was okay and that she was _going _to be okay. He went and had a quick chat with Josh and Dom in the locker room, before heading out to his car to go home, after what had been a very long day.

As he approached his car, he could see something sitting on the roof; when he got even closer, he saw that it was the bottle of scotch that Kerry had with her in the operations room. He grabbed it off the roof and shook his head.

She certainly was an enigma to him, that's for sure.

-----

**The End**

Sorry about the stupid ending. I'm sure I could have gone on forever if I didn't stop it there!


End file.
